"Today is the forty-second day since I set out from the World Crown. Based on the information from the monster, I have confirmed the approximate location. The next step is to use the ship ○○ to search."
"Fortunately, the people sent by Bandage successfully reunited a few days ago, which greatly increased the speed of exploration. Among them are not only members of the Hope Island Navy, but also others who followed me after hearing the news, including Norden, Linda, Audrick, ○○, Nico, Frank, and Grace."
"Although I don't say it, everyone still misses the captain. However, their arrival makes me feel a little scared. What if the captain really returns to the surface? If he goes back, what should I do?"
"No, I shouldn't think so. The Captain can't get away with it."
When Dipper had written this, he put down his pen and looked at his diary with some melancholy. Although he could write most of the Earthsea words after constant cramming, the appearance of what he wrote was really ugly.
He picked up the pen with his webbed hand and tried to make some changes, but after hesitating for a while, he put it down again. "No one else will see this anyway, so it doesn't matter if it's ugly."
Closing the logbook with both hands, Dipper turned and walked towards the door. The daily ship inspection began.
After inspecting the fuel tank, fresh water tank, turbine tank, and each cabin one by one, Dipper finally came to the cockpit.
"Ah~ dear Captain Dipper, you are still so punctual."
Nico leaned back in his chair, put his high-top boots on the dashboard, and said as he rubbed his nails with a file.
Dipper didn't bother to pay attention to him and started to check the navigation records hanging on the wall.
"Don't worry, it's no problem. The Narwhal is now equipped with the latest positioning technology from the Relic Research Institute. We no longer have to record the route and speed every hour as painfully as before."
"It's better to be steady. No matter how good the machine is, it's not as good as a person's carefulness. By the way, Second Mate, I'm curious, why did you come here?"
"Why can't I come? Just because I joined late, does that mean I don't belong to the Narwhal crew?" Nico put down the small file in his hand.
"But you're not such an enthusiastic person. Shouldn't you go and take back your coral island now?" Dipper said this, and a guess suddenly flashed through his mind, "Could it be that you like the captain?"
"Huh? Of course not." Nico replied instantly. After a few seconds, he added again: "Our captain has the personality of a pufferfish, with thorns all over his body. I can't stand it."
Before Dipper could answer again, Nico stood up suddenly, raised his right hand and pointed at the glass in front of him, "Look! What is that!!"
Dipper looked up suddenly. Under the searchlight, some white objects appeared in the distance in front of him. "This is..."
Because it is too far away, we can't see clearly what it is. The only thing we know now is that it is white.
Nico, who had been carefree just now, picked up the black microphone and quickly notified other ships to be on alert with a serious expression.
They didn't dare to approach the thing that suddenly appeared on the sea. The bat that Odric turned into quickly flew out and began to explore with sound waves.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Nico and Dipper looked through the nautical charts sent by the Explorers Association.
"Who can predict what happens in the sea? It's normal for something to suddenly appear more or less. Let's wait for Odrick to come back and see what this thing is."
Nico looked at the white color of unknown substance and felt a little uneasy in his heart. No one could figure out the unknown in this ocean.
Not long after, Odrick came back quickly and said something unexpected, "Dipper, that thing is a skeleton!"
"Skeletons? Skeletons of what?"
"I'm not sure either. Whatever the skeleton is, it's huge. It's at least as big as two Hope Islands!"
Everyone was shocked when this was said. Is a creature bigger than two islands still a creature? A creature this big should be alive besides dead, right
Unconsciously, everyone else was looking towards Dipper. As his captain now, it was up to him to decide whether to move closer or farther away.
Feeling the gazes on him, Dipper felt the pressure. Now he finally understood what it felt like to be a captain. No one knew what was on the skeleton, and whether it was dangerous.
What happens next is that there is a high possibility that one of the crew members may die due to a wrong decision.
All the previous choices were decided by Charles, and he just had to do it. Now he is the one who makes the choice.
"Or, let's mark this place first, and then send an exploration ship here after we go back." Hearing what Dipper said, the others breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, seeing such a large corpse in front of them would make anyone's heart tremble.
Thick smoke began to pour out of the chimney, and the Narwhal gradually moved away from the huge object. As the ship got farther and farther away from the object, the strange white skeleton gradually disappeared in the searchlight.
But before others were about to enter the cabin, the waves suddenly began to roll. The waves that appeared out of nowhere caught everyone off guard, and several sailors who did not have time to find their belongings were swept away by the waves in an instant.
"Dive! Dive to the bottom of the sea to avoid the wind and waves!!" The iron plates on both sides of the Narwhal quickly closed under the pull of the cable. As the surging sea water poured into the water tank, the Narwhal and other people quickly sank.
When they sank into the sea, everything around them became quiet in an instant. The crew members who were soaked by the sea water collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath. It was really thrilling all of a sudden. The wave appeared too quickly.
But this feeling of relief did not last long, as some extremely panicked voices came from the speakers in the cockpit, "Surface quickly! There is--"
The sudden end of the communication made the person who heard it feel a chill on the back of his neck. Before Dipp could make any move, the ship next to him instantly turned on all the searchlights on board.
Through the thick pressure glass, Dipper and his friends saw a huge object in the dark deep sea in the distance. It was a black mountain with obvious flesh and blood patterns on its rock walls.
The next second the mountain came to life, and as it slowly rose up, the vacuum created in the deep sea sucked all the ships over irresistibly.
(End of this chapter)